If the outcome of the Town Meeting held in Tampa is a barometer of
the brainpower of our organization, the future of our organization will
be a very bright one. The purpose of this event was to provide a forum
for all ACEI members to offer ideas for how to make a good organization
even better. The outcome of this event clearly suggested our mission was
accomplished. Most importantly, the Executive Board has promised to give
all ideas serious consideration. If names were given, they are included.
It is my hope that we will come to the Town Meeting in Atlanta with even
more suggestions for our leadership. Below is a listing of ideas
presented orally or written in the cards provided at the session:

* If we truly have a commitment to the globalization of ACEI,
membership fees must be relative to the member's country's
wealth, and provide a percentage of funding to help them attend the
conference. (Deborah Young)

* There is an urgent need for ACEI to support the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child document. (Judit Szente)

* ACEI should consider developing a Week of the Rights of the
Child, similar to the Week of the Young Child. (Bonnie Berg)

* Our Web site should include more languages. Perhaps a committee
of ACEI members from other nations could assist with translations.
Perhaps students from other nations could assist as well. (Deborah
Young)

* A silent auction might be held to help fund the conference for
international members. (Dianne Lawler-Prince)

* All ACEI members are encouraged to come to the UN for Martin
Luther King Jr. Day. (Nancy Brown)

* Is it possible for members to donate frequent flyer miles to help
those from other nations attend the Annual Conference? (Jim Hoot)

* ACEI should continue to apply pressure to counteract
testing-mania. A recommended children's book is First Grade Takes a
Test by Miriam Cohen. (Monroe Cohen)

* ACEI should strongly support the Moscow Conference in 2008. We
should also help our Russian colleagues make the conference a success by
expressing our ideas to them. (Tunde Szesci)

* ACEI should show with their treasure and talents that they
support our mission in third world countries. One way to do this is to
use our international members with connections to develop a regular
3-year cycle of ACEI World Conferences that include venues in
third-world nations. The International Committee would be a great help
in this venture. (Jill Hunter)

* A program to help fund the Moscow Conference for student members
would be great! (Melissa Anderson)

* ACEI should develop a scholarship fund for students to attend the
Moscow Conference. I am willing to make a contribution toward this fund.
ACEI should also come up with recommendations for an organizational
response to NCLB. (Loren Weybright)

* The Heritage Committee would like to include an annual special
panel presentation with someone representing each decade of ACEI
discussing their experiences and dreams for ACEI. (Marci Malinsky)

* ACEI clearly needs to expand its global emphasis. (Rose Jones)

* With all of the resources we have in our organization, might it
be possible for ACEI to develop an annual "education mission
program" to a third world nation. For example, an ACEI member (with
help of the International Committee) could facilitate ACEI volunteer
support. This could be a 4- to 6-week stay headed by an experienced ACEI
member. I also suggest that the ACEI Web site could be developed to
assist committees with communication and activity throughout the year.
(Zephyr Wilkins)

* I would be glad to lead the first ACEI mission delegation to
assist with my work in Nicaragua. I also suggest that we develop a
"mentorship" program for ACEI members to mentor new members.
(Deborah Young)

* ACEI will take you further than you realize. We need to do
anything we can to help these conferences financially, need to explore
where people can actually apply to philanthropic groups for funding.
Make gifts in memory of some great educators to help students, and also
in honor of ACEI leaders. (Gloria Hearn)

* Leadership is critical to our mission. I suggest development of a
"Leadership ACEI" program. Through membership in this
prestigious group, we can select very promising mentors who can get new
members involved in leadership positions. Also, the Student Committee
has just voted to change their name to "Emerging Educators."
The chair of Emerging Educators could work with the chair of Leadership
ACEI to place mentors and mentees together. Mentee would work on a
service project under the supervision of their mentor. Upon completion
of the service project, the Emerging Educator would be able to join
Leadership ACEI. (Jessica Essary)

* The international part of the organization is extremely valuable.
The committee has been working towards fair treatment rather than an
equal treatment of our international members. First-year teachers also
need a bit of support. If someone hosts an American member who interns abroad, we could reciprocate with some funding for them to attend the
conference. Submit proposals, even if it is not something new. In
addition, since our ACEI World Conference is a special opportunity for
developing international members, I recommend that a substantial amount
of funds from the International Development Fund be used to assist the
local committees hosting our ACEI World Conferences. I also recommend
considering third world nations in selecting our World Conference sites.
(John Manning)

* Members from OMEP and ACEI should consider collaborations to help
with our World Conference. I also suggest developing more user-friendly
methods for committees to continue their work throughout the year. Good
ideas need to be put into action, committees should come up with an
action plans to recommend to the Board. I will take all the ideas to the
Board for serious consideration. (Karen Liu)

* Branches and members should support international branch
development--not only to get them started, but to keep them going and
growing! (Anna McArthur)

* Provision of child care for members with families could assist in
expanding conference numbers. (Kevin Walker)

* We could consider a special place in the conference center for
children. We could also include optional tours for children. (Anna
McArthur)

* Perhaps the brain power of Leadership ACEI could sponsor an
international member to attend the conference. (Jessica Essary)

* Use technology in all shapes and forms. I would like to see the
conference in Atlanta virtually broadcast for those who are unable to
attend the conference. Could be expensive, but technology is here to
stay. Maybe we could purchase some equipment so that presentations could
be viewed via the Internet. (Valerie Rhomberg)

* Consider having a board to post faculty positions or to include
them in the conference program (could be a money raiser). We could also
include a method/time for representatives of universities and potential
employees to meet. (Doris Bergen and Debbie Hess)

* Global ECE is proliferating in the United States, North America,
and around the world. We have many overlapping activities in
organizations. I suggest OMEP-USNC (and perhaps other related agencies)
join ACEI to work harder and smarter together. (Edna Ranck, President,
OMEP-USNC. Edna.ranck@verizon.net)

* Maybe ACEI Headquarters could hire a grant writer on staff. We
need funds for lots of projects, scholarships, etc.. Administrative fees
could be included in the grants to support this person's salary.
(Nancy Brown)

* Branches are down. Does anyone have some ideas to build new
interest to help this situation?

* Is it possible to reach out to upper elementary grades for
membership and more presenters at the Annual Conference?

* We need a position statement and other action concerning
suppliers and users in the child slavery market/traffic.

* We need more reception food at International Welcome time. Also
the short time and room arrangement was not conducive to members
actually visiting with guests from outside the USA. Suggest the
President host this important event in the President's Suite and
that the President be available for photos with guests. This event
should be strongly supported every year. Perhaps the International
Committee could come up with some ideas for making this a warm welcome
to those who have come so far.

* Have an ACEI member meet new international members at the airport
and serve as a "buddy" during the conference. Would be an
especially nice opportunity for students in the host city to volunteer
for this.

* I wish we could access articles published in Childhood Education
by doing a topic search on the ACEI Web site as we can do on the NAEYC Web site. This way, students and others would become exposed to all the
great works in the journal and make it more user-friendly. (Blanche
Perrotta)

* it would be nice if there were tours available at the ACEI
conferences. This would allow members to see the cities they are
visiting and make transportation outside the center more convenient.
(Melissa Clark)

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